An ultrasound (US) imaging system includes a transducer array that transmits an ultrasound beam into an examination field of view. As the beam traverses structure (e.g., of a sub-portion of an object or subject) in the field of view, sub-portions of the beam are attenuated, scattered, and/or reflected off the structure, with some of the reflections (echoes) traversing back towards the transducer array. The transducer array receives echoes, which are processed to generate an US image of the sub-portion of the object or subject.
US imaging has been used in a wide range of medical and non-medical applications. An example is US guided biopsy. Generally, a biopsy is a procedure in which a small sample(s) of tissue of interest (e.g., prostate, lung, breast, etc.) is removed for subsequent examination for abnormalities such as cancer cells. In one instance, the biopsy instrument includes a trigger configured to actuate a spring-loaded biopsy needle. The needle is inserted through the skin and moved to the target tissue. For the biopsy, the trigger is actuated, which causes a portion of needle that extracts the tissue sample to move into and out of the tissue at a relatively high speed, extracting a sample.
The movement of the needle during tissue extraction can be seen as a white flash under real-time imaging. To record the location of the sample, in one instance the clinician manually marks start and end locations of the biopsy sample on an image based on the trajectory of the needle from visual observation of the event during real-time imaging by the clinician. In another instance, the event occurrence is identified from the sound of the actuated trigger. Unfortunately, these approaches are susceptible to human error and inaccuracy. Thus, they are not well-suited for monitoring the same sample site over time and/or subsequently taking another sample at the same location.